Australian Biological Resources Study
The vascular flora comprises the flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns and fern allies. Australia has over 18 000 described species of vascular plants. These are the most conspicuous components of our living environment and provide the major terrestrial habitats and food resources for animals (both large and small) and fungi. Traditionally, plants have been used as the framework for description, study and management of the environment.
The Vascular Flora subprogramme of ABRS provides information on these organisms in a range of formats.
The foremost of these is the Flora of Australia, ABRS' internationally renowned series on the Australian flora - as well as the vascular plants it describes mosses, liverworts and lichens (see the Lichens and Bryophytes subprogramme). There are over 60 volumes planned, each providing an authoritative summary of current knowledge of the species described and richly illustrated in both colour and black and white. They contain keys to families, genera, species and infra-species, detailed descriptions of taxa at all ranks, full Australian synonymies, distribution maps, and notes on variation, ecology and biology.
As well as being available in book form, the information provided in the published volumes of the Flora of Australia is available at Flora of Australia Online.
ABRS also produces the Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, comprising important works which are basic to the research underpinning treatments for the Flora, Fungi or Algae of Australia series. Such works include monographs of key groups, nomenclatural indices, census lists and bibliographic compendia.
A series of interactive keys on CD ROMs has also been produced, aiming to facilitate identification of species in some of Australia’s largest groups of plants. So far Wattle, identifying Australian Acacia species, and AusGrass, a key to Australian grasses, are available. In addition there is a key and guide to the The Families of Flowering Plants of Australia.
A set of posters describing and illustrating features of Australian grasses has also been produced.
